I’ve talked with so many business owners recently who are doing business with undocumented agreements.

Hand shake deals.

They tell me they intend to get it done, but we both know the truth … they won’t.

I get it – I experience a lot of my own personal resistance to getting agreements documented.

Getting written agreements in place brings up a lot of stuff that can be challenging to deal with.

Just the other day though I was reminded of how important it is.

Tina Forsyth hired me to create custom Terms of Service for the website for her THRIVE Hiring System and a template agreement that business owners who invest in the THRIVE Hiring System can use before hiring.

Before I began work, I sent Tina an agreement confirming what I understood the scope of work to be and it’s a good thing I did because I was slightly wrong about what I thought I was doing for her.

Had I gotten right to work without sending her the agreement for review/signature (as many of you are doing!), I would have wasted my time and hers.

This is why you do agreements – clarity, certainty, the best possible chance of success in your relationships, which means more work with less time and more ease.

Who knew you could get all that from an agreement?!?

Do you use agreements in all your business dealings? If not, why not? How can I help?

My company is looking for the perfect virtual admin person to manage my email, my calendar, and my crazy travel schedule and do the same for the CEO of our company.

I live in Colorado (and travel quite a bit) and our CEO lives in San Fran.

But, you can live anywhere because all of this management of our lives and schedules can be done remotely from your home!

You will be all up in our business, making
sure we stay on task with our day to day priorities (which are numerous and frequently changing) and really get to see what it’s like on the inside.

You will be responding to emails on my
behalf and on behalf of our CEO, so warm, friendly, professional communication is a key.

Plus, you’ll be handling our schedules and keeping us on task, so you need to be able to get bossy with us when necessary. In a warm and loving manner, of course.

Does this sound like an exciting position
to you?

If you are energetic, motivated, positive, optimistic and able to roll with a constantly changing environment AND you are highly detail oriented, analytical, systematic and process oriented, contact us!

If this sounds like a position you’d love, here’s what you should do right away because we are looking to fill this role very quickly:

1. Email FWPIStaffing@gmail.com with the following:

Subject Line: I’m Your Key Assistant

2. Attach your resume in a Word document or a PDF

3. Send us links to anywhere you appear online – Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, wherever.

4. Write a short paragraph about why you are the right person to help us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

PS – Please forward this message far and wide to anyone you think would be the right person to help us in this oh so important role.

So, I can’t help but post something about George Steinbrenner’s death and all this talk about how his family saved $600 million because he died in 2010, a year when we have no estate tax.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read about the estate tax and what Congress is doing about it.

What I want to make sure everyone knows is that:

1. Estate Planning is about so much more than estate tax – in years like this, that message can get lost.

Very few families will ever be subject to estate tax no matter what Congress does with it, but every single one of you has parents who love you and many of you have kids who love you and if you love them too and want things to be as easy as possible for them, you do estate planning.

No matter what. Even if you only have a bank account and a car. Look around you – everything around you right now (including everything right here on your computer) is part of your estate and if you don’t plan for it in advance, you are leaving your family with a big mess to deal with.

That’s just not right.

And, of course, if you have kids – name guardians, make sure they are taken care of by the people you want, in the way you want. Don’t leave it up to a Court to decide who that is.

Last, don’t for a minute think estate planning is just about your financial assets – it’s not.  It’s about passing on the story of your life, who you are, and what’s important to you.  Your values, insights, stories and experiences, aren’t they worth so much more than your money?

Of course they are, so what are you waiting for?  Talk to a Personal Family Lawyer about passing on what really matters.

2. If you do have a large estate, plan for future generations when there will be an estate tax

Yes, it’s true that if a multi-millionaire or billionaire dies this year, there is no estate tax.  But, what about future generations?

Our current “normal” method of passing on financial wealth simply to avoid estate tax in the estate of the wealth builder incentivizes future generations to squander it.

If, instead, we started to think about estate planning not as just a mere way to avoid estate tax, but as a way to encourage and incentivize wealth building from one generation to the next, we could eradicate the shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations phenomenon that is common in every culture.

I hope that Steinbrenner planned for the passage of his wealth in such a way that his assets will not only not be subject to estate tax now, but will stay out of his kids’ estates as well.

And that he established his plan so that each generation has a stake in the growth of their wealth, that they will be taught to do good with it and make a difference.

Whether George did these things or not, it’s too late for him, but it’s not for you.

Today, I hiked my first 14er. That’s a 14,000 foot above sea-level mountain. Here’s where you can see the details of the trail we took.

About half way up the mountain, I got really scared I couldn’t do it.

I thought we were going to be hiking, but this was real mountain climbing.  Like the clinging to the side of the mountain, probably should have had ropes or something kind of mountain climbing.

I’ll have photos soon.

More than once, I was so scared, I had to stop, lay my head down on the mountain and cry.  Then, I got up and kept going.

Such a metaphor for life and business.

The next time shit happens in your life and business and you are sure you are going to die, I want you to think of me on that mountain, thinking I was going to die.

And I want you to put your head down, cry your eyes out and then get back up and keep going.  Don’t turn back and don’t get stuck.  You’ll be better than fine as long as you get up and keep climbing the mountain.

Breathe into your belly, pray to source, and keep on keepin’ on.

The vast majority of my role models have been men.

My dad was my first. Then, most of my law school professors. The partners I worked for at the big law firm. And many of the authors I’ve read, coaches and mentors I’ve worked with have been men.

I learned to do business like a man. And got really great at it.

But, it hurt. A lot.

Perhaps you haven’t identified it that way, but now that I’ve pointed out can you see it’s been there all along? Hiding.

You thought it was you. Something was wrong, but you didn’t know what it was. So you allowed yourself to believe if you just kept going and pushed harder it would resolve.

That has not been my experience.

I’ve spent the past 5-6 years exploring an alternative to doing business like a man – discovering a model of powerful feminine leadership that is still (and perhaps always will be) evolving and it’s finally emerging. Deepening.

Because my schedule is so packed right now, I’ve not had a lot of time to write about it. But, I’m hosting an event in LA and  have been talking about it on interviews.

So if you are interested in learning more about this deepening and how it impacts you and your business, come to the event or listen in on these interviews I did.

You can hear me as a guest in the Entreprenurial Goddess Telesummit and in the Body Mind & Business Breakthrough Telesummit.

So ladies, talk to me about your experience with balancing the masculine and feminine energies in your business.  How is it for you? Where do you find difficulty and challenges?  What’s working? Can’t wait to hear!

I could feel there would be some activity. I hoped it would be a call from the casting agents, asking me in to meet the producers.

It wasn’t.

It was the announcement of the eight finalists who received the most votes during the voting part of the contest.

One of them will be on the reality show part of the contest.

Thirty-five more will get call-backs to meet with producers and nine of them will be on the reality show.

I want to be one of the nine.

In the past, I’ve been able to manifest many things and experiences I’ve really wanted.  Now, I’m going to publicly share my manifesting strategy with you and put it into action, right here.

1) Get clear on what you want and tell the story of it – in words or pictures.

Before graduating first in my class from Georgetown, I saw it in my mind’s eye.  I knew I’d have two kids before I was 30.  I visioned my house on the beach in Hermosa for years before I lived in it.

There’s more, but this gives you an idea of how manifestation has worked for me in the past.

I’ve always known I’d be on a reality show and have my own show on television helping people to resolve conflict.  (Wow, it’s hard to do this manifesting thing publicy; brings up all kinds of fear about it not working and looking like an idiot – I think this fear of feeling dumb is what keeps people from using law of attraction principles.)

Written as clearly as it can be then, the experience I want is  to be chosen as one of the contestants to participate in OWN Network “Your Own Show” reality show.

2) Now, feel what it will feel like when it happens.

Lots of people stop with the vision board or the written description and think that’s all it takes to manifest, but that’s far from the end of the process.

After getting clear about what you want and writing it or drawing it or speaking it out loud, you need to take it a step forward and actually feel the reality of what you want as much as you can in your body.

Put yourself into the experience of what it will feel like when you experience that thing you want.

As I do this, my mind immediately wants to focus in on the details, the obstacles, the discomfort.  My mind is afraid for me to feel what I truly want.

It wants to protect me from the disappointment of not getting what I want.  It wants to convince me I don’t really want it or that it’ll never happen and not to get my hopes up.

Instead, I bypass my mind and feel the energy, excitement, run around the house screaming intensity of getting that call from the producers. I allow the feeling of that yes to swell up inside of me and I allow the tears to spill across my face.  Because no doubt I would cry.

I feel the fear that will surely hit shortly within after that when I realize the “reality” of what’s to come.

I experience the discomfort of competing for my own show and seeing all my shortcomings so publicly broadcast for everyone to see.

I bring compassion to that fear and discomfort and make the commitment to stay true to myself, no matter what.

3) Then, let go of the outcome and trust.

This is the hardest part.  To want something so much and at the same time let go of it.  It’s the ultimate balancing act.

I practice trusting in something bigger than myself, the divine order of everything.  I practice knowing that all is well and that whatever happens will be just right.

This is the hardest part, trusting, allowing, letting go.

4) Last, take some action that is within your control

It’s easy to get stuck in the fantasy and the daydreaming parts of manifestation and not take any action.  This is a big mistake and why many people say the law of attraction doesn’t work – it’s not that it doesn’t work, it’s that they aren’t working for it.

From the space of trusting that all is well, ask yourself what, if any, action you can take that could bring you closer to the reality of that which you want.

Nothing happens without action.

While my mind wants to tell me this contest is completely out of my hands and there’s no action I can take, I know that’s not true.  There’s something I can do.  It’s just scary and uncomfortable.

I can write a letter to Oprah and Mark, right here on my blog, about why they should choose me. Then, I can do everything possible to make sure they see it.

So this is my letter to Oprah, Mark and the Universe about why I should be chosen for the Your OWN Show contest:

=======================

Dear Oprah, Mark and the Universe,

Choose me to be on Oprah’s Your OWN Show because:

1) The Catalyst is needed in the world. This show, about resolving conflict from the inside out, will provide a much needed antidote to the traditional Judge/Court shows that reinforce the ideas of blame, victimization and entitlement.  So many people are sitting on their couches watching TV, wondering what happened to their lives – how their lives got so out of control and unhappy.  The catalyst will help them see that resolving conflicts is the path to joy and freedom.

2) The Catalyst will help people with real legal issues. I’ve worked inside the big law firm, built my own firm and seen where the legal system is broken.   Most people simply do not have the resources to navigate the system and others are abusing it.  The Catalyst will direct people to become their own advocates without getting sucked into our over-taxed legal system unless that truly is the best route.  I simplify difficult concepts and tell it like it is so everyone watching will not only be entertained by the everyday conflicts brought through the questions from viewers, but educated as well by the answers I provide.  Edu-tainment.

3) There’s a big market for the Catalyst. We love conflict and drama, as proven by the years of the People’s Court, Judge Judy and the rest of the television court shows.  They also love to ask about their own legal issues and watch/listen as others have theirs answered.  Bill Handel has been on the radio for years, 3 hours every Saturday, and is the #1 listened to radio show in many markets providing, as he says “marginal legal advice.”  The format is proven, the show is not expensive to make, and millions of people will watch it.

4) Sponsors will love the show. The Catalyst will be sponsored by insurance companies, lawyers, legal document preparation companies, financial service firms, debt consolidation and restructuring firms, tax service companies and more.

5) I would be a great reality show contestant. I’m open, and willing to share it all. The stress of being a single mom, co-parenting and managing my own conflicts with my ex, and running my businesses while being on the show.  There’s sure to be several breakdowns and breakthroughs, all of which would be a lot of fun to watch.

6) My life is nutty.  My ex-husband lives with us, I c0-sleep with my kids in our family bed, go to Burning Man,  travel frequently to speak at events, host eclectic workshops at my home, run three businesses virtually, just bought a farm, juggle it all with dating and have some very interesting friends (from unschoolers with no income or permanent housing to multi-million dollar entrepreneurs and everything in between).

I’m excited to show people what it’s really like to live this non-conventional life.

Bottom line, it’s time to add a fresh voice to the marketplace that brings a new and unique perspective about what to do with their legal issues … my voice is that voice.

I’ve seen conflict from every angle and I know what happens to us when we resolve it from the inside out.

Oprah, Mark, Universe … I trust this show will be made one way or another.  There is no better home for it that I can imagine than the Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN.

With your help, we will move one step closer to world peace by helping your audience see that if we want peace, it must begin right here with each of us.

The Catalyst will be the catalyst for that peace for millions of people who want it, but don’t yet have the tools or knowledge to make it a reality in the face of their circumstances.

With gratitude,

Alexis

============================================

So, that’s my manifestation process, laid out in all its glory.  Next stop, getting my letter to Oprah and Mark, so if you’ve got an in with them, please make sure they see it.  I’ll be looking for other routes as well.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about manifestation, the law of attraction and whether you have any other processes you love for creating the life you want on your terms.

He said “We are taught as middle class people that we need to control everything and it keeps us stuck.  We are taught that the true entrepreneur is the one who has his hands in everything and is in control of every piece.”

Then, he went on to say “The people from the upper classes are taught from an early age that you hire people to do things, trust them to get it done and fire them if they don’t.”

Talk about an eye-opener.

First, because I tend not to think in the context of socio-economic class.  And next, because he is right.

To truly leverage the one resource we cannot make more of – time – we have to find the right people and trust them to get their job done.  When they don’t, we have to let go quickly and not settle.

Most of us have not been trained to live this way.  I know I sure wasn’t.  It’s been the most difficult business issue for me, bar none.

Instead, until recently I’ve done the opposite.

Hire someone, micro-manage, make excuses for them when things aren’t done the way I want them to be, convince myself it must be because I didn’t communicate clearly, and then micro-manage some more hoping for a different outcome.

Not a recipe for success.

This applies equally to life as it does to business.

You don’t follow your housekeeper around with a broom to sweep up after the things she misses, do you?

If you had to do that, you would find a new housekeeper, right?

So, why do we do it in our business?

When you find yourself in this pattern, ask yourself …

If I was Richard Branson and I owned a magazine, an airline, and multiple other businesses, how would I manage the people I’ve hired to get things done?

So, talk to me … are you beating yourself up for the shortcomings of the people you hire to support you in life and business?  What do you do when you are disappointed? Are you ready to do something different?

My twitter friend said I came across as too perfect, as if I’ve never had problems.

Boy, is that far from the truth.

My show concept for the Catalyst comes from the reality of my own life.  My own divorce, conflicts with employees and business partners.  My kids’ conflicts with each other.  My extended family’s conflicts after deaths in the family.

In fact, now that I think about it, it really all started with my parent’s divorce.

I remember feeling like a ping pong in the middle of their bickering.  Neither of them could see I was the last one who should be helping them work through their issues.

Maybe that’s because it was all part of the bigger picture – I was in early training for what was to come later … this show, the Catalyst.

The Catalyst is about seeing that all conflict is the greatest opportunity to be more of who you are.  Conflict isn’t something to be avoided.  It’s to be confronted.  With love and an open heart.

We need the tools for this.  It’s not the norm in our world.  But, it can be.

It’s not easy, by any means.  It could be though, with the right tools.  All it takes is a new perspective.  A shift in awareness.  Seeing what you could not previously see.

So no, definitely not perfect.  But, I do believe thanks to my experiences perfectly suited to host this show and make an impact in this way.

And it’s also why I think the reality show aspect of Oprah’s Your Own Show contest is so right for me.  I need work to make my show as great as it can possibly as be – and I believe it begins with allowing more of my authentic, true, anything but perfect self to shine through.

If I truly believe that all conflict is your greatest opportunity to be more of who you are, what better way to experience that than with a reality show/contest where conflict is almost certain to be a given.

Up until then, I owned and operated a traditional bricks & mortar business – a boutique estate and business planning law practice.  While I loved having my own business, I did not love having to get up, shower, get dressed and leave my house to go into the office everyday.

I wanted to be more present for my kids.  By that point, I was a single mom and working away from home 6-7 days  a week, running my own business, was putting a huge strain on me and my family.

So I was mightily intrigued by what I began to see as an alternative – moving part or all of my business online.

If you’ve explored the online business world at all, you’ve probably noticed it can be like dropping down into a rabbit hole.

What’s real?  What’s not?  Who can you trust?  Who is full of it?

I get ya.  And I’ve spent the past 5 years figuring it out.

I’ve invested hundreds of thousands in my education.  I’ve hired coaches, consultants, coachsultants.  I’ve joined high end masterminds.  Low end masterminds.  Thrown together masterminds.

And I’ve seen what’s real and what’s not.

So, I’m starting a series here I think you will like a lot.  It’s called Real Online Business Models and I’m featuring people and businesses like:

Sticker Giant:  a traditional Sticker Printing company with a 500-year old business model that is considered a technology start-up because of the online business strategies they are using to dominate the marketplace.

Brian Clark: a recovering attorney turned online mogul (he laughs when I call him this) who has one of the most visited sites on the web by people looking to build their own online businesses, which he has leveraged into millions of dollars of cha-ching.

Laura Roeder: a 20-something gal who has become a stand-out social media consultant in a VERY crowded marketplace thanks to her real online business model.

Dave Navarro: thanks to the real online business model he built, he quit his day job completely and now makes a nice six-figure revenue working from home helping people sell more online and gets to spend a lot of time on Twitter.

Dave Dee:  he’s been in the world of information marketing since the late 1990s when he released his first product on a set of cassette tapes and he’s an expert at bringing offline businesses online.  He was the first consultant I hired who turned out to be the real deal in helping me and my business make the leap.

And there will be a whole lot more.

If you’ve been wondering what’s real, what’s not, who you can trust and who is full of it, you are in the right place.  This series will take you behind the scenes.

Be sure to let me know if there is someone you think I should interview for the real online business model series.

by Sheri McConnell
Excerpted from Smart Women Know Their Why

Faith is a big part of living a successful life and being a successful entrepreneur.  My secret is deciding to have faith in myself more than any type of external force.  Notice I said the word “decision” because that is where it starts. My journey has taught me that I always intuitively know which direction to head next and when I look to find answers outside of myself, I always end up off the path a bit. It took me until I was well into my thirties to be able to trust others because of not having established trust in any form whatsoever during my childhood.  For me, I had to have my own family and connect with the love I had for them to be able to trust myself and others.

The deeper reason it is important to be able to trust is because your heart must be full and complete in order to bring out the passion and joy for yourself and others in your life.  The feeling of trust will penetrate the walls surrounding a broken heart, the pain from being alone or feeling alone.  Just like you, others have been in the dark and are searching for what you now know to be true. They are searching to believe in themselves in the darkest moments of their being.  This is trust at its core.

So let’s talk about a few ways to learn to trust yourself so you can be empowered to live the life of your dreams which could mean grow a very profitable business, or have a huge family, author a series of books, or travel the world and meet exciting people—shoot your dream life could include all of these—mine does!

Trust in Balance

If you are moving in “auto-pilot” the heart will not shine and the days will cast heaviness in the center of your body.  Balance will provide the base of being grounded to the truth. Believe in the love you have for yourself and you will come from the deepest parts of your soul.

The fastest way to develop a trusting relationship with balance is connect with nature.  This will bring the balance between work, family, love, and life.  In this connection you will build the foundation that will hold you up in any storm.  So each day work on getting out and just seeing the beauty of nature around you.  This will help make the connection stronger and remind you of just how small we are in the universe.  The more you bring in nature and hold the thought of each molecule and atom circling in your path, the more balanced you will become.

Now, I am aware that I live in San Antonio, Texas and we are blessed with nine months of beautiful weather each year, so I know I am able to connect more often than some—if you live in an area that isn’t as mild as where I live, do whatever you can to create the sounds and smells of nature in your home during the cold months.

Trust in Power

True power will emerge when you are in service. All you have to do is trust that the power is given to you to serve and that if you serve, the world is abundant.  This doesn’t mean when running a business, you don’t charge for products and services.  You can’t produce quality products and services and really help your customers if there isn’t an exchange of money.  Trusting in your own power to lead others through your products and services is the inner structure that allows the new ideas and the new beginnings to come forth.

Trust in Energy

The innocence of childhood energy is what we tap into when we are at our center.  Remember the feeling of being with one self and no cares or a negative thought to speak of. Trust that this energy still exists within you and allow yourself to bring this calmness into your thinking when you are taking on the biggest obstacles and the biggest conflicts. Tapping into this energy will help you to reduce stress and become heart centered. This is the constant energy that is felt by others so they can rejoice in their knowing of this power within them.  And knowing about this energy will help you break the barriers of negative energy in any room.

I have found that our truest sense of self comes from just trusting in our energy and the energy signals we get from others. Your goal is to have no barriers or boundaries where energy is concerned and just be with the energy of each moment. In the present moment, there is no fear, no doubt, just you in your power and experiencing all of life’s joys that are presented to you each day.

Trust in the Journey

A lot of people get stuck in their own journey. They relive the worst parts of it over and over again in a very unloving way.  It becomes a vicious circle of inner self disappointment that circles them right back around to the same place again.  I’ve been there and I get it.

Instead of getting stuck on your journey, take the mistakes you made and will make and love yourself as if you were a child who is learning. Even as adults, in some areas of growth we are only children and we must be gentle with ourselves to truly grow through the journey. What I know to be true is that people are searching for a place of belonging and validation. You can create this for them by being a leader who spreads passion and love.

Remember that your journey is a gift because it provides the wisdom you will need to go out and create positive change in the world. So your goal is to learn from your past and do better as soon as you know better. Be strong and have courage to change. Trust me, I know how hard it is to move past a dysfunctional patterns that have become comfortable.  But the rewards of doing so allow you to stand outside of yourself and get a good look at whom you have been and where you are now.  What surfaces is love. And now you can shine this love for others…. You see, without the journey, you would not have this gift.

Because of my journey (see chapter one), I was able to survive the darkness and now shine a light for others who are now in the shadows of darkness themselves.  They need help from someone who has been there and conquered the fear of internal and external chaos.  I do this by casting light on dark situations and allowing my words to fill the gap between doubt and love.   I invite you to find your passions (your gifts) and cast light for others too.

Want to learn more about Sheri McConnell and her new book, Smart Women Know Their Why? Visit http://www.smartwomenwhy.com